Brandon’s review of Journey to Vapor Island(Contains Spoilers)
The cover art by Mark Velard
How listeners to the show will instantly recognize favorite topics when they make cameo appearances in the book or manifest themselves as part of the underlying themes
Internet memes in the book(ex. the men in the frog masks)
The fusion of genres including Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, and Dark Comedy
A disclaimer that this book is not for anyone that is squeamish about sex or easily shocked or offended
Brandon’s observation that the sexual scenes in the book are more akin to the “random battles” in old school Super Nintendo RPGs like Final Fantasy IV
The theme of how central sex is to people’s motivations, and the overall perception of status in society
The main character Noam Metzenbaum who is a socially inept yet intelligent student with illusions of grandeur
The Chads and the theme of the nerd getting revenge against bullies and the popular cliques
Noam’s crush Natalie Bloom and his lifelong obsession with her
The Retro-Futuristic surreal fantasy world in the book; an adult Never Ending Story
The Roger Blackstone character who could represent a Trump-like figure, but could just as easily be a Ross Perot or even Willy Wonka
The outrageous comic elements in the book
The theme of the commercialization of tragedies and the celebrity status of mass murderers
How the book is timely with the ongoing Hollywood sex scandals
The theme of living in ones fantasies and how that shapes the book’s narrative

Paul Schrader, who wrote both films, and directed Mishima
Schrader as a subversive non-conformist who exists within Hollywood culture
The theme of alienation in both films
The Nietzschean theme of a weak man empowering himself
The life and legacy of Yukio Mishima
How both Yukio Mishima and Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver are similar archetypes, existing in different environments
How both characters are aristocratic individualists, who envision an ideal world that is at odds with their current situation
An Aristocratic Individualist is someone who follows their own path instead of submitting to societies standards
Aristocratic Individualism is about having a clear vision for an ideal society, rather than individualism in the sense of everyone doing what ever they want
Examples of Aristocratic Individualists include, J. R. R. Tolkien, Aleister Crowley, Oscar WildeH. L. Mencken, David Lynch, Richard Wolstencroft, Salvador Dalí, Jonathan Bowden,Ernst Jünger, and Friedrich Nietzsche
The theme of romantic rejection, and the corrupting nature that sex plays in both films
Mishima’s story, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
How Aristocratic Individualists resent that they are being denied their rightful place in society, and the normie response that it’s a coping mechanism for losers
How Aristocratic Individualists take actions that can lead to either greatness or alienation
How Yukio Mishima rebelled against Japan’s process of modernization and Americanization
The scene where Yukio Mishima spoke to leftist college students, stating that he is fighting against the same forces they are, but they dismissed them
The parallels to to how European New Right thinkers such as Alain de Benoist share views with the dissident left( ex. anti globalization, anti-consumerism, anti-imperialism, and pro-environment)
How Yukio Mishima was dismissed in his time, but dissidents are later validated in times of turmoil
Mishima’s Japanese minimalist aesthetic vs. Taxi Driver’s urban grittiness of 70’s New York CityNew York Neon: Taxi Driver locales in Time Square, and “porn tourism,” which seeks out the remnants that have survived gentrification
The Neo-noir genre
The Retro-futurist theme in Mishima, combining ancient Japanese culture with the 80’s vision of the future(Vaporwave)Eiko Ishioka, who was the art director for Mishima
The fantasy dream sequences in Mishima, and the dream like quality to 80’s films which are the essence of artBernard Herrmann‘s Jazz score for Taxi Driver, which captures the feeling of alienation and urban grittiness, and Philip Glass‘s minimalist classical score for Mishima
Aristocratic Individualist Fashion style including designer Comme des Garçons and the director John Waters